How MSPs can turn strong partnerships into AI growth

Partnership is a growth strategy, not just a product decision

For MSPs, choosing the right technology is only part of building a successful business. The bigger challenge is bringing technologies together in a way that solves customer problems, simplifies service delivery and creates room to grow.

In Episode 3 of OpenMic: Accelerating MSP Growth, I sat down with Dennis Kao, founder of ProActive Information Management and co-founder and CEO of Correlatio, to discuss how partnerships with Microsoft and OpenText Cybersecurity shaped his MSP business - and how those lessons are influencing his approach to AI today.

Strong partnerships can make MSP growth more scalable

One of the clearest lessons from my conversation with Dennis is that partnership can become an operating advantage. As ProActive grew, he focused on packaging Microsoft and OpenText Cybersecurity technologies into broader customer solutions instead of managing disconnected products across multiple vendors.

For MSPs, that kind of standardization can make growth easier to repeat. A focused set of platforms can reduce complexity, make team training more efficient, streamline customer onboarding and support more consistent service delivery. The value is not simply in reselling technology; it is in combining, delivering and managing it in a way that solves a business problem.

AI can create more value from the systems MSPs already have

MSPs already manage significant customer and operational data across cybersecurity tools, RMM platforms, CRMs and ticketing systems. Dennis’s perspective reinforced an important point for me: AI does not always need to begin as a brand-new, standalone service.

A practical starting point is to use AI to make existing systems and information more useful - for example, surfacing customer needs, reducing manual analysis, improving service-desk workflows or preparing teams for more strategic conversations. That approach can extend the value of technology customers already use while giving MSPs a path toward readiness assessments, automation, optimization and managed AI services.

The MSP role is becoming more strategic

Dennis sees AI accelerating the shift from traditional break-fix support toward a more consultative MSP role. I agree that the strongest place to begin is not with a tool - it is with the customer’s business problem, the data available and the outcome the customer wants to achieve.

From there, MSPs can decide where automation or AI can deliver measurable value. Clear use cases, strong underlying data, security, governance, employee adoption and ongoing optimization can help move an AI initiative beyond the pilot stage.

If you are exploring where AI fits within your business and services, listen to Episode 3 of OpenMic: Accelerating MSP Growth, “Partnership and AI Monetization,” featuring Dennis Kao of Correlatio. His experience shows that MSPs do not have to start from scratch: the customers they already serve, the technology they already manage, and the problems they already understand can become the foundation for the next stage of growth.